Libya ICC: Gaddafi co-accused

Three top Libyan figures are wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Along with Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, his son, Saif al-Islam, and brother-in-law, Abdullah al-Sanussi, head of Libya's intelligence services, are accused.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi - the second of Col Gaddafi's nine children - has had a far more prominent role in the Libyan political scene than his brothers or sisters.

Saif al-Islam is Col Gaddafi's most prominent son

Well-educated and a fluent English speaker, Saif al-Islam was previously viewed by the West as the reform-minded face of the Gaddafi regime.

The 38-year-old holds an MBA from Vienna University and in 2008, received a PhD from the London School of Economics (LSE).

He also runs the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation.

Some saw him as his father's most-likely successor, a suggestion he played down.

He owns a house in London and has had links to British political figures as well as the royal family. He has met the Duke of York many times and is said to have visited both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

But his ties to Britain went under the microscope after the crackdown on Libya's protests when they broke out in February.

In March, LSE director Howard Davies resigned from his post after facing criticism for accepting donations from Saif al-Islam's foundation.

The university is also investigating the authenticity of Saif al-Islam's PhD thesis, which focused on good governance and civil society.

Despite his musings on democracy, Saif al-Islam appears to have sided with his father over the need to quash protests in Libya and the armed rebel groups which have emerged from them.

Shortly after the uprising began, he described protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi as "drunkards and thugs" and warned of civil war.